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We are looking at retirement locations in South America, so this a very timely article.

An expat is by definition someone who’s chosen to leave their birth country to explore the world and find a country of adoption. You’d be surprised to know that there is a variety of reasons for people to want to move abroad and start a new life, from political to professional reasons. But the most […]

One tip I would add is to limit the amount of jewelry you wear. I bought my husband and myself matching silver wedding bands. If they were stolen, I would have been out less than $20 USD. I wore a cheap watch and silver hoops for the entire vacation.

We recently vacationed for ten days in Costa Rica and Panama. Of the four hotels we stayed in, only one had a room safe. We used ATM’s throughout our vacation so we never were carrying very much cash. I also had a good lock on my suitcase. We stayed in small family owned resorts, but if our bags would have been tampered with, we would have known right away. Many years ago, on my last day of a Mexico vacation, my contacts lenses and a earrings were stolen from our room when we went to breakfast. I didn’t think to lock up because we were just going to breakfast. I won’t make that mistake again.

In addition to Being a Chameleon Abroad here are a few tips to help you avoid being a victim of theft on holiday (and at home): If you must take expensive items out with you, try to make them appear broken or damaged. Stick some tape around parts of your gadgets, (e.g. parcel tape on your iPad). […]

I found this fantastic travel blog, G Adventures and a really cool write up about how to, and not to take travel photo’s. I’m just learning how to take better photo’s mysself. And am signing up for classes very very soon. Photo’s hold your most precious memories. Not only for yourself but for everyone you share […]

We visited this attraction last night. It was beyond cool. All of the displays are made of silk, and are set up at the site. There were over 30 displays. Food, entertainment, Chinese beer, good friends, what’s not to love! Plus it’s November here in Southeastern Wisconsin, and the weather was beautiful last night. If this comes to your town, I highly recommend checking it out. China Lights

Hello! My husband and I recently vacationed in Panama. It was our first trip to this beautiful country. We stayed on Isla Bastimentos, which is part of Bocos Del Toro, Panama. We stayed for three days. The weather was perfect. It was low season so it wasn’t crowded at all. It rained at night a few times, but didn’t affect any of our activities.

Our accommodations were way cool, as we stayed in a bed and breakfast over the ocean. The Sea Monkey has two cabins, of which we were upgraded to the larger cabin. The cabin had sliding glass doors on the front that opened up to our own private deck. The king size bed was the most comfortable bed I have ever slept on vacation. I need a bed like this at home. The cabin was rustic, but had everything we needed. Breakfast was delivered to our cabin each morning, as the restaurant was being renovated.

We were at the south end of Old Bank, a town with no roads, just a cement path through town. The locals were very nice, and language was not an issue. Panama uses the American dollar, so that was very helpful.

Bocos Del Toro consists of many smaller islands on the Western Caribbean. Water taxis are the mode of transportation between islands. The fare is only $3 during the day and $5 at night. We found Panama to be a very inexpensive place to visit. The food was delicious and the beers were cheap and ice cold.

We did a day tour through Bastimentos Alive to go snorkeling, visit Frog Beach and hike through the jungle. Our guide Cristo was great and a lot of fun. We made several stops and saw lots of cool stuff. The cost for each of us was only $40 for the entire day of boating. We stayed on Bastimentos for the entire visit. There were plenty of restaurants to choose from, and we easily walked through town.

On our last day we did something very unusual. We volunteered at an indigenous school for the Ngobe tribe for preschoolers. This tribe has been in Panama since the time of Columbus. We took a boat and picked up about ten little kids and took them to their school. We helped the teacher out for the morning, reading to the kids and playing games. It cost us $20 each, and lunch was included. An American created this school for the local children to attend. It’s a nonprofit called Give and Surf.org. It was a very humbling experience. Although we don’t speak Spanish, we had a delightful time with these children.

We absolutely loved Panama, and will coming back. Lots going on at the Sea Monkey check them out Sea Monkey

Hello! Just wanted to share some info and photos of our recent trip to Costa Rica. My husband and I recently vacationed in Costa Rica and Panama for ten days. This was our first trip for more than two days without our son. We visited Costa Rica three years ago, and loved it.

This time out we decided to go to the Southeastern Caribbean coast. Our first stop was Cahuita. We did lots of research before going. We chose Cahuita because it’s old Caribbean, by that I mean, no high rise hotels, amusement parks, etc. Just lots of local charm, great food and really cold beer.

We used Anywherecostarica for our travel in Costa Rica and Panama. We rented a car on our last visit, but due to going to another country during our trip, we opted for shuttles. Anywherecostarica was great. Picked us up in San Jose for our four hour ride to Cahuita. We also changed departure times and it was super easy. Just a quick email, and our times were changed. It was a long day of travel, so it was nice to just relax after being on a plane for six hours.

Cahuita is a laid back and vibrant little village of Costa Rica’s unique Creole culture, brought about by its Afro-Caribbean heritage. It’s a small town, but had many restaurants and things to do.

All of the food we had was wonderful. We stayed at La Casa de Las Flores; a cute family owned bed and breakfast. This hotel was highly rated on TripAdvisor, and we were very pleased. Very clean, great breakfast and very comfortable beds. We selected our hotel based on having breakfast included. Once we got to Cahuita, we discovered many restaurants that we easily could have stayed elsewhere for less, and eaten breakfast out for very cheap. We were maybe ½ block from the main drag. It was easy walking to everything Cahuita had to offer. The locals were friendly and there were dogs running around everywhere. We are big dog lovers, so we liked that.

Cahuita National Park was a short walk from our hotel. Since we were traveling in low season, it was not crowded. The park is free to get in, but a donation is appreciated. We hired a guide to walk us through the jungle. We saw so many interesting creatures we would have never seen if we didn’t have a guide. Our guide Richard was from Cahuita, and was very knowledgeable. The cost for the guide was $20 per person per hour. One thing to note, there were no biting insects walking in the jungle. The beaches were beautiful and mostly free of tourists. I got some great photos.

Plantains are a staple of Costa Rican food. We must have eaten them almost daily, which was fine with us. We visited the Sloth Sanctuary which was really cool. Only one other person was on the tour with us. Cost was $30 per person. After a tour of the sanctuary, we were taken on a canoe ride on a small river. Very peaceful and lots of wild life.

We ate great local food at pretty much every meal. The hubby had lots of fresh fish that he thoroughly enjoyed. The atmosphere in Cahuita is really laid back. No high rise hotels, and not very crowded. We stayed for three days, and it only rained one afternoon where we couldn’t do anything. Check out TripAdvisor for all of my reviews on Cahuita.

Great tips! Also download WhatsApp on your smartphone to stay in contact. We recently traveled to Costa Rica and Panama. This was our first long trip without our teenager. We kept in daily contact using WhatsApp. All you need is a WIFI connection. You can talk and text.

We traveled for 10 days, and had our clothes washed half way through. Some locals in Bastimentos, Panama washed our clothes for $5 a load! No down time sitting in a laundry on vacation.

Originally posted on The Wandering Broski: Lets face it bro, unless you’ve won the lottery, saving money whilst travelling is a must if you want to extend the time of your life! Here’s some tips on how to continue the wanderlust… Find the cheapest flights. Save money on flights = more money for travelling bro!…